Dorm

BRING 1.Pictures: Smiles and candid memories light up even the drabbest of residence hall walls. Make a collage or scatter them around your desk space. 2.Fun bedding: After an endless night of work, it's always rewarding to get into a pile of fluffed pillows and welcoming comforter. Make sure you've felt the bed set, though – online orders might not always seem as soft as they look. 3.Endless amounts of crates: Random and pertinent object will accumulate in the dorm throughout the year.

I remember visiting colleges to try to see if a school would be the right fit for me. I took all the guided tours (some of them more than once) and walked around campus with my parents and read all the brochures they gave out. But it wasn't enough. Seeing the inside of the admission's office or meeting an important university administrator doesn't give you a real feel for student life. Instead, do this: Go when school is in session. It's always easier to go during a school break, but it's way more worth it to go while classes are still in session.

Nicole La Hoz and University of Florida/Pembroke Pines Charter Graduate, January 21, 2010

IÃÂll admit it ÃÂ I was judgmental. IÃÂve been with the same friends throughout high school. When you go into my bathroom, everything is in certain cabinets. After leaving UFÃÂs orientation, the thought of changing all that struck me the hardest. All I could do was beat myself up for not rooming with my friend. Why didnÃÂt I think of getting an apartment with her? Like many judgments, mine was proven wrong.

Sharing a room in college with someone you might not have met before can be exciting and nerve-wracking. Inevitably, problems will occur. Aarika Camp, from NSU's Residential Life & Housing, offered advice for some of college's most common situations. Your roommate has guests over every night "Make sure you know the policies of your university. Not all colleges allow guests over to spend the night or be there all the time. Set up guidelines," Camp said. "You can't get upset at the other person if no rules were set in the first place.

After hearing the impassioned pleas of almost 50 students, teachers, parents and Chabad rabbis, the Coral Springs City Commission denied by a 4-1 vote Chabad Rohr Bais Chaya Academy's request to operate its controversial girls' dormitory in a residential neighborhood. "The use of the property is the issue," Commissioner Larry Vignola said before the vote. "It's not about the girls. It's not about religious beliefs. " Vignola said the commissioners have to look at how the dormitory affects its neighbors.

Impassioned pleas by more than 40 Chabad Rohr Bais Chaya Academy rabbis, teachers, parents and students last week persuaded the Coral Springs planning and zoning board to vote against permanently closing the school's dormitory. The city had recommended that the dorm at 8793 NW 35th St., closed in June for safety violations, not receive a special exception to operate because it is detrimental to the area and inconsistent with the general public welfare. The dorm, which serves the girls' high school in Tamarac, is not listed as a permitted use, unlike the North Broward Preparatory School dorm, the only other dormitory in the city, zoning officials said.

Some students at the University of Miami have been temporarily relocated to a Coral Gables hotel because bed bugs were found in their dormitory rooms, WPLG-Ch. 10 is reporting. The students were initially notified by email about the infestation during the Thanksgiving break, the station reported. The full story can be found at www.local10.com .

One after another, men in yarmulkes or black hats, some sporting long beards, pleaded with the planning and zoning board to let a Jewish Orthodox school operate a dormitory in the city. Students, women and supporters packed the seats and overflowed the corridor outside city hall. Two young girls in calf-length navy skirts and collared shirts asked the city "what will become of our future" if the school closes. Rabbi Moshe Rabin of Rohr Bais Chaya Academy Girls School encouraged the board to ignore the city staff's recommendation to deny the dorm request and to instead grant the academy a special exception to operate the dormitory for 37 high school girls.

The trick is to gently nudge your kids in the direction of dorm-room decor. Let them think paying attention to how their room looks is their idea. Dorm room. Two words that send people with any sense of style into total meltdown. But that doesn't mean the room has to look like San Quentin meets the Bates Motel. The trick is not to let your children know what you're up to when you gently nudge them in the direction of dorm-room decor. Let them think paying attention to how their room looks is their idea.

A Florida Atlantic University dormitory evacuated last month because of asbestos was vandalized over the weekend, university officials said. Vandals smashed three ceiling tiles and stole two more, ripped down blinds and kicked in ventilation slots on doors. University officials had not calculated damage estimates by Tuesday evening. University police are investigating. FAU spokeswoman Lynn Laurenti said it's unlikely the damage could have happened without the knowledge of at least some of the 30 students living in a safe section of the building last weekend.

Florida Atlantic University is trying to persuade students to spend more time on campus, all night actually. Increasing the number of students living on campus is part of FAU's efforts to create a more traditional experience for students in Boca Raton . Over the past decade, the university has built three freshmen dorms and two towers of upscale apartments, with amenities such as restaurants, computer labs, fitness centers, sand volleyball courts,...

Just what Florida needs - more guns in more places, where they can cause more horrible damage. Please. It should be sufficient that Florida's public colleges and universities are easing restrictions on weapons on campus - so long as they are kept locked inside vehicles. They have no choice, really, given a recent appellate court decision striking down the University of North Florida's ban on weapons in cars. While Florida law prevents anyone from possessing guns on college campuses, it had given universities the option of whether to automatically ban guns kept in cars.

Some students at the University of Miami have been temporarily relocated to a Coral Gables hotel because bed bugs were found in their dormitory rooms, WPLG-Ch. 10 is reporting. The students were initially notified by email about the infestation during the Thanksgiving break, the station reported. The full story can be found at www.local10.com .

A surge of men choosing the Catholic priesthood has prompted a Boynton Beach seminary to begin a $7 million expansion project, including two new dormitories for 106 future priests. St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary's student body has grown from 55 five years ago to 85 this year, said the Rev. David Toups, the seminary's rector and president. In three years, Toups expects 110 students, the largest group in the seminary's 50-year history. "Within an eight-year span, we will have doubled in size," Toups said.

Associate Professor Charles Dukes isn't just willing to stay after class to help students at Florida Atlantic University. He stays overnight. Dukes, who teaches future special education teachers within FAU's College of Education, was selected as the university's first faculty-in-residence. In late August, he moved from his home in Miami to a spacious apartment inside FAU's new 614-student dormitory, Parliament Hall. FAU created the position with the hopes of improving the freshmen experience by having a faculty member who could be a role model and provide mentoring, guidance and programming.

When the first 604 freshmen moved into Parliament Hall at Florida Atlantic University Aug. 21, they had a frozen yogurt shop in the lobby, a fitness center, lounges with microwaves and, of course, Wi-Fi. Rooms on the top floors even have a view of the ocean. "It's more like a Marriott," Charles Brown, senior vice president of student affairs said at the Aug. 19 ribbon cutting for the $46 million project. "Now we'll have 4,300 bed spaces throughout the system. " In fact, building the latest generation of dorms is FAU's game plan.

College means change. It means growing up, moving out and decorating. While it's unlikely you'll be picking from paint strips and fabric swatches to adorn your new space, putting some design thought into where you'll be living for the next year can help make even the most institutional white box charming and homey. Of course, there are the basics to choose: sheets and blankets, towels, storage containers. But the fun is in the personal extras. Everyone will have the pretty sheets from the back-to-school section of the home stores, but they probably won't have the pillow you've had since preschool or the poster from your first concert.

Florida Atlantic University has a new tool to help fight the freshman 15: a residence hall focused on healthy living. The $41.7 million Parliament Hall, a new 600-bed dorm on the southeast end of campus, has plenty of options to help students stay fit. There's a sand volleyball court outside, and a fitness center on the first floor. Windows have been added to the major stairwell, because research shows natural lighting make stairs more inviting. The main dining facility will be a restaurant focused on fresh and healthy fare, including salads and wraps.

After hearing the impassioned pleas of almost 50 students, teachers, parents and Chabad rabbis, the Coral Springs City Commission denied by a 4-1 vote Chabad Rohr Bais Chaya Academy's request to operate its controversial girls' dormitory in a residential neighborhood. "The use of the property is the issue," Commissioner Larry Vignola said before the vote. "It's not about the girls. It's not about religious beliefs. " Vignola said the commissioners have to look at how the dormitory affects its neighbors.